Tommy's Restaurant is a beloved community institution in Hampton. It's the kind of place where you'll find a crowd gathering and munching almost any morning or noon, almost any time of year.

The cozy, bustling diner is best known as a source of traditional breakfast and other forms of homestyle cooking — hamburger steak, spaghetti, fried chicken and vegetables with a distinctively Southern touch.

So when the waitress recommended Tommy's Reuben sandwich, I was skeptical. That's deli food, not a down-home diner dish. I tried it anyway.